Coal-ash sifter



(No Model.)

T. SCHOLES.

COAL AsH SIFTBR.

F W w ,W C M w W z 7 J MM W? M. w W

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE-O THOMAS SCHOLES, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

COAL-ASH SIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 366,887, dated July 19, 188'7.

Application filed January 2G, 1887. Serial No. 225,605. (No model.)

To all 207mm it 77m1/ conccrn:

l-'e it known that I, THOMAS ScHoLEs, of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have lnvented certain Improvements in Coal- Ash Sifters, of which the following is a specificzaion.

My said invention'will be hereinafter more fully described with reference to the aecompanying drawings, in whiehfi Figurel represents a perspcctive of a coalash sifter embracing in its construction my said improvement; Fig. 2 a longitudinal vertlcal section of the same; Fig. 3, a longitudinal horizontal section of the same, and Fig. 4a detail view.

In the drawings, A rcpresents a box that is reetangular in form, except that each ofits side pieccs is sloped down from the 'point Z) nearly to a point at the front end of the bottom of the box where the front end of the bottom is turned up and bent back at an acute angle and made sharp, so that it may be forced into a heap of partially-burnt hard coal and ashes, and be thus filled with the same, acting thus after the manner of a scoop or a roadscraper.

B indicates a sheet of wire'netting of suitable sige of mesh, extending from side to side and from end to end of the box, fastened to each side of the same, and havingits front end inserted and fastened under the turned-np front edge of the bottom.

The sheet. B at its front end rests upon the bridge-piece E, which extends across the bottom at that end of the box, and that bridgepiece serves to hold the sieve in position and to exclude ashes and coal from wedging themselves under its front edge in the operation of the device.

The sheet B is so fastened into position as to make an acute :mgle with the bottom of the box atthe front end, ad to rise from the front to the rear end, and thus furnish a Chamber, F, for the ashes which will pass down through the sieve in the operation of the device.

The rear end of the box A is provided with guide-boards D, fastened in the eorners thereof and extending up against the back end of the sieve, and they serve to guide the ashes falling through the sieve into and through the opening D' of the back end of the box into the hollow handle C, which is fastened to the rear end of the box itself. The inner end of the handle C, where it is fastened to the box, is upon a levelwith the bottom of the same, but it is made to incline upward at an angle with the same, as shown in the drawings, so as to form a. trap which will prevent the escape of ashes during the operation of sifting, and thus I avoid the expense and trouble of a shutter to close the outer end of the handle C; and for a like reason I have provided no means of closing` the front opening of the box A, for my device is especially well adapted to sifting of the ashes from the unburut coal immediately at the ordinary heating-furnace where the ashes and coal may be seooped up out of the ash-pit, and the sifter shaken just within or immediately in front vof the door thereof, in which case the ehcck-damper to the furnace will induce a constant current of air into the chininey sufficient to carry off with it any ashes that may rise during the operation of` sifting,thus dispensing with all movable parts, such as doors, lids, and eovers.

C' indicates a brace having one of its ends attached to the hollow handle C, while the other end is attached to the box A, and is designed to stiffen and strengthen the handle C.

My whole device, except the wire-netting, is made preferably of galvanized iron shects, and its parts are fastened together by means of rivets, and the joints are closed by the use of either solder or pressure. I

The operation of the machine is quite simple. The operator takes the machine by the handle C, scoops up aportion of the ashes and coal, and shakes it in the usual manner, the ashes pass through the sieve while the coal remains upon it, and the ashes and coal being completely separated, the end of the handlespout C is placed upon the bottom of the hod or on the top of the accumnlated heap of ashes previously (leposited, and the entire apparatus is then brought to a Vertical position, and then the entire quantity of ashes in it will flow into the said spout-handle, whereupon the apparatus is gradually raised vertically and the ashes will spread out without being seattered in the form of dust.

In my pending application for Letters Pat'- ent for an improvement in ash-sifters, filed January 11, 1887, I have shown and deseribed a device of different construction in several IOO I device is best adapted to be used.

respects, for use under different cireu'mstances from those under .which my herein-deseribed The one deseribed in the pending application is adapted to use Where there is no chimney-draft available-as, for instance, in the case of magazinestoves--by which to carry off the ashes rising` into the air during the operation of sifting, whereas the device described herein can be used to equally good advantage Where such drafts are available, and is much simpler in construction and operation.

' `What I claim as my invcntion, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The deseribed box A, having a shcet of Wire-netting, B, fastened to its sides above its bottom. and the opening D', in combination with the hollow handle O fastencd thercto, substantiallyas and for the purpose described.

2. In combination with the box A, having tw'o side picces sloping at the front, and a bot? tom piece having its front edge turned up and,

back to form a sharp edge, the sieve B, having its side ed'gcs fastened to the side picccs of the a heap of ashes while the bridge-piece will hold up the sieve frorn the bottom, substantially as described. w

``'3. The combnation'of the box A, the sieve B, having the guide-boards D and the opening D', and the hollow handle O, fastened to the rear end of the box, substantially as and for the purpose described.

4.4 In combination with the box A, pro'- vided with guide-boards D, the sievevB, and the rear opening D', the hollow handle O, attached to the rear end of the box, having an upWard inclination thereto from its inner to its outer end, adapted to act as a trap to catch and hold the ashes during the operation of sifting, substantially as described.

5. The combination of the 'box A, having the sieve B fastencd therein, and an opening, D', in the rear end of the same upon a level with the bottom of the same adapted to sift the ashes from the coal, and to diseharge them from under and from the rear end of the sieve, substantially as dcsoribed.

THOMAS SCHOLES.

Witnessesz,

ELIAs BRAMAN, GERTRUDE SHARP. 

